The Northern Lights - Issue X, February 1st

January 2017 General Election Results
2017 found The North Pacific (TNP) in a time of excitement. With the General Elections season starting on January 1st, campaigning was going strong, the feeling of rivalry was felt by all, and there was an air of excitement all around the region. TNP elects its Delegate, Vice Delegate, and Speaker of the Regional Assembly (RA) every four months in what is known as the General Elections. With the three highest offices in the region up for grabs, General Elections are usually a time period of excitement and increased activity.

This General Election was no different. As the Elections started out, the Delegate's race appeared to be the most contested one. Incumbent Delegate Plembobria, former Vice Delegate Bootsie, and Deputy Attorney General Darcania all initially declared candidacy for the position. Each candidate had considerable support and a strong resume, and the race looked really packed for a minute. Soon enough, Bootsie and Darcania both withdrew from the race leaving Plembobria as the only candidate standing. The field was not vacant for long though as Deputy Minister and Assistant Attorney General Sasten declared his candidacy for the office along with citizens Yalkan, Hesskin Empire, and Lord Emmanuel. Ultimately, the race came down to Plembobria and Sasten in the end with both candidates battling it out till the last vote.

Plembobria, the incumbent Delegate, cited his strong first term in office in which he saw success in increasing activity levels across the board. He promised to continue this while also embracing and allowing his cabinet ministers to create and achieve individual policies and goals for their ministries. Sasten ran on a campaign promising to maintain the progress of the past term while also working towards new achievements as a region. Plembobria would go on to win the Delegate’s race, securing 57% of the vote.

The Vice Delegate's race was equally interesting. As far as the candidates go, former Delegate Tomb and current Attorney General Ash both declared their candidacies for the office. However, Ash, would later go on to resign his citizenship in the region, thus effectively removing himself from the race and prompting a Special Election for the position of Attorney General. As a result, Tomb ran unopposed, but still faced the possibility of having the nominations for the position re-opened should that option receive a majority of the vote.

Tomb ran on a campaign based on four key goals. Chiefly among them is strengthening the Security Council by raising the endorsement levels of its individual members. Tomb also outlined his plans to continue the World Assembly Development Program (WADP), which has been a success since its release, to frequently (and quickly) perform security checks on citizenship applicants, and to use the office of Vice Delegate to try and connect more to the in-game population. Tomb went on to win the Vice Delegate's election unopposed with 100% of the vote.

The Speaker's race was by far the most exciting, and it remained a nail biter until the last vote was cast. Standing for the position were Kondratev, Deputy Speaker of the RA, Pallaith, Minister of WA Affairs, and Argnantim, a newer citizen who has much potential. What was exciting and unique about this particular race is that each of the candidates were considered to be from a newer generation of players - a new class of rising stars.

Aragnatim ran on a campaign promising to essentially simplify the bill making process while also providing mentoring to those who need it. As a new member in the region, proposing a bill can seem like it is an intimidating process, and Argnantim promised to tackle that problem if he is elected. Pallaith's campaign was focused on continuing the progress made under Speaker Zyveskistaahn while also working to complete citizenship checks in a timely manner and turnout the weekly RA digest more frequently. Kondratev's platform was centered on reforming the citizenship application process procedurally while also introducing other reforms, such as weekly RA discord meetings, to increase the efficiency of the office and the RA in general. Pallaith went on to win the Speaker's race, winning with 60% of the vote.

Aside from the General Election races, TNP also held two Special Elections, one for Attorney General, following Ash’s resignation, and one for Court Justice, following Eluvatar's removal due to inactivity. As both races started out, only one person declared candidacy for each election (Lord Emmanuel - Attorney General and Altmoras - Justice), and so nominations were re-opened after the majority of the voters sought that option in both races. After nominations were reopened, Lord Emmanuel withdrew from the race, and Deputy Attorney General Darcania declared candidacy. Darcania ran on a campaign promising an active Attorney General's office, one that is based on experience and a strong work ethic. Darcania ran unopposed winning 100% of the vote. In the Justice race, former Justice Abbey, former Deputy Attorney General Guy, and former Temporary Hearing Officer Barborristan all declared candidacy for the position along with Altmoras, the initial candidate. With many highly experienced legal minds in the field, voters had many options, and the competition was great, but in the end, Abbey managed to pull a win securing 73% of the vote.

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Regional Assembly Highlights: New Speaker
For the first time in a long time, The North Pacific has a new Speaker of the Regional Assembly, yours truly. Our beloved Zyvetskistaahn has at long last achieved his dream of unshackling himself from the Speaker's desk, though he has traded those shackles for those of the Deputy Speaker's office. Elections are times of change and opportunity. This is the most of both the Speaker's office has had in a while, and it couldn't come at a better time. The Regional Assembly has seen some of its busiest days as of late, and the Speaker's office is working to catch up. Top on everyone's mind these days are reforms to both the citizenship process as well as judicial procedure. In addition to the regular bills altering a small handful of words in the legal code or bill of rights, the Regional Assembly has seen an increase in proposals proposing changes to approving citizens, evidentiary procedure, even judicial sentencing.

It is remarkable, then, that even with this clear desire for broad and varied change in the region, the effort is still deliberate and incremental. There is a process in place and even the most excitable or inspired member of the Regional Assembly adapts to the speed of our legislative process, even if they have to learn as they go. In the previous term the Regional Assembly grappled with the proper handling of evidence and how restrictive to be regarding incoming citizens, but they also played a part in changing the course of NationStates history by reversing course on the World Assembly Accord on campaign Spam and supporting the Coalition Against the Ideology of Nazism. Both of these were supported by delegates past and present, but it was the RA who determined their fate.

Indeed, this past term saw a rare delegate veto, which triggered an override vote (albeit an unsuccessful one). In all cases the citizens respected the outcome and were careful to conduct the votes and debates as carefully and deferentially as possible. Some of these disagreements touched on sensitive subject matter, and at times seemed to hinge on very minute or nitpicky details. And yet, the RA is still standing and the work continues, no matter how many times the same proposal finds new life in another debate thread.

In TNP, the citizens decide their own fate and the rules that bind them. The debates over citizenship and judicial procedure are not abstract principles or something that only affects the nations who come after them, they impact their own fate in future potential court cases, their place in the greater NS world. The RA is an important, if too often unsung, aspect of life in TNP, one that more nations should learn about and use to their benefit. This term may be the one where that aspiration starts to find life. Suffice to say, the Speaker’s office has a lot on its plate in the upcoming term. Facilitating the everyday process of self-governance is tough work at times but it is the lifeblood of democratic regions like TNP.

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Northern Cup 2017 comes to an end
32 competitors, one winner and another successful year for the Northern Cup. The tournament officially began on August the 7th, 2016. It ran for 164 days, this included the Signups, the Group Stages, Knockouts and the Finals. Last year, only 16 competitors took part, so having double the competitors this year was a massive leap forward. Now, for the results. If anyone hasn't already read my Awards Ceremony dispatch, True Sebland ended up beating my national team in the final, after months of hard work and training. The Kaschovian failure in finals continue, as last tournament, Kaschovia lost out to Northern Scovia. This year was no different, with True Sebland winning 1 - 0.

It is fair to note that this year's tournament was much more successful in terms of coverage, graphical ability, organization, and scheduling. Not only was there much more content for people to enjoy, but there was much more work to do behind-the-scenes. If anyone has ever managed a cup similar to this before, they will know that under the nice dispatches and graphics, is pages and pages of BBCode. Not just normal BBCode, more than the standard boldening, italicizing and underlining. It got to the point where I could no longer bunch together dispatches of leaderboards and tables because I had exceeded the limit for a dispatch in terms of BBCode. I can confidently say that in formatting things like this, I have learned so much more about the more complicated mechanics of NationStates and it's dispatch creation process.

General roleplay takes a massive role in the fictional aspects of The North Pacific, and in its huge reach across our community, comes the opportunity for more and more sports themed roleplay. I am a heavily sports themed roleplayer myself, so it was only natural that I would be able to work on such a large project. Admittedly, there is not much sports roleplay present in the community, as opposed to political or national roleplay. I have tried to bring the sports themed to the forefront of the roleplaying scene, and I will continue with that effort until sports roleplay

Talking of the Northern Cup I must also mention some of the things I have planned for 2017/2018. I do plan to look for more helpers with it, as I find it very draining to work on the entire thing on my own. I hope to have more spaces open for competitors, and possibly open the tournament up to 48 teams. I will be stripping back on graphical variation, as I find it is far too demanding to conjure new and interesting graphics. Most likely, I'll use more conventional and efficient methods for displaying scores and results. The standard BBcode might be used to make tables for scores and leaderboards.

Along with the Northern Cup, I also have plans to develop even more sports themed roleplaying tournaments and cups. I have ideas for a tennis series and a Formula 1 style Grand Prix North Pacific version. I will be looking to improve previous attempts/iterations of a Northern Football League, and I hope to work on improving many aspects of The Northern Cup as it is. Although most of this will be forum-side, I will try and bring some of it onto NationStates so a wider variety of nations can participate in, enjoy and help with more of my roleplay projects. I cannot promise any success with the projects mentioned, but I will definitely try to make them happen.

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The Spotlight #1: An Interview with Vice Delegate Tomb
Kasch: As part of our new segment for the Northern Lights, I'd like to introduce: The Spotlight! A monthly interview with a special guest from the North Pacific! This week, we have a former Delegate and current Vice Delegate: Tomb! Welcome to the Spotlight, it's great to have you here with me for this interview.

Tomb: Hi Kasch, Thank you for having me!

Kasch: No problem! To begin, with some of the elections behind us, and the term only just starting, what was your favourite moment of last term, and why?

Tomb: Great question. As you know, I was Minister of Home Affairs for most of last term. When I received the Ministry of Home Affairs, it was in a less than desirable condition. Recruitment was being done by 1-2 people, there was no functioning executive staff, and inactivity was prevalent. Under my leadership and with Delegate Plembobria's vision for the Ministry, we were able to turn it around to become one of the most active government ministries. Today, the Ministry of Home Affairs stands strongly with a large, active Executive Staff, an active recruitment branch, a new and improved mentoring program, and all in all, I am proud and happy that we were able to turn it around.

Tomb: It is not a "moment" by any means as it took months of work, but the final product -- what the Ministry of Home Affairs has come to be -- would easily be my favorite.

Kasch: Home Affairs truly needed someone like you on board, you lifted the Ministry back onto its feet! Onto the next question: In the General Elections, you ran for VD and won. How does it feel to be VD, and are you looking forward to working with Plembobria over the next four months?

Tomb: It feels good, as you know, it is an honor to be elected as Vice Delegate of TNP. With it of course comes a heavy sense of responsibility, not only in achieving my goals for the office, but also in the fact that as Vice Delegate, you're one heat beat away from the Delegacy, and so you're always on your feet. With regards to Delegate Plembobria, I am looking forward to working with him 100%. I think he did a great job last term, and I think he'll do just as fine this term.

Kasch: And with the elections, come the cabinet appointments! So, how do you feel about the most recently selected cabinet, and what effect do you think it will have on TNP this term?

Tomb: I personally could not have assembled a more well put together cabinet than what we have right now. If you look at every cabinet position and its holder - from Scorch (Minister of Home Affairs) to Bootsie (Minister of Foreign Affairs), you will find that these Ministers not only have the experience necessary to assume their positions, but they also have a never-ending drive to serve the region. These are the sort of people who go up and beyond expectations. So I really think that with this cabinet, we're set for an excellent term.

Kasch: It must be reassuring knowing that you have such a cabinet! Now, concerning the Security Council, what are your aims and objectives for the council over this term, and how do you plan to achieve them? Feel free to refer to your campaign, I'm sure the readers would like to see a full answer.

Tomb: My primary and most important goal for the Security Council (SC) is to raise the endorsement levels of its members to match the recent increase in the Delegate's endorsement count. As you know, in our region's current context, it makes no sense for a Security Councilor to have 600 endorsements while the Delegate has 1,300. To get to the desired range of 900-1,000 endorsements, the SC will obviously have to endotart and maintain a greater presence on the RMB. I personally have multiple events planned, including theme weeks and an AMA, that are all aimed at increasing the SC's endorsement levels. This will not be a light project, and it will require an effort from everyone – not just SC members and WA nations. So there is a lot of work to do. Fortunately, we have plenty of time to do it, and TNP's security is more than worth it.

Kasch: The future of the SC looks promising! How much of an impact do you think the World Assembly Develoent Program has had on The North Pacific and its WAD/VD positions?

Tomb: The World Assembly Develoent Program (WADP) is an excellent program, and it is actually part of the reason that TNP has the high amount of endorsements that we do. While other regions restrict the amount of endorsements you may have, TNP encourages and awards endorsing other nations in the region. This keeps our community safe, making it almost impossible for one to coup, due to the distribution of endorsements and influence. It also allows for the game to be more enjoyable for nations who like to stick to the game-side aspects of NationStates as they get to endotart.

Kasch: Now, looking to the future of the North Pacific, what do you think 2017 holds for the region and why?

Tomb: I am definitely optimistic. We're starting this year with an active, large citizenry. All of our government institutions (from our Courts to the North Pacific Army) are up and running. Our RMB and forum are both bustling with activity. Our challenge is to keep this up in the months to come. And I think this is a challenge that we're up for.

Kasch: Okay, so now that we have the future out of the way, I must ask since I haven't been around for as long as you have, if you could return to any one point in your history on NationStates, what would that point be and why?

Tomb: Oooh, that's a hard question. You know, I've made some really good friends throughout my time in TNP, at the same time, I've unfortunately lost some of them to inactivity over the years. Similarly, I've had some good memories holding public office and some not so good ones. That's the beauty of life, it's a roller coaster. If I had to pick one point, it would be right here and right now. There is no time better than the present. Our actions and contributions right now impact the future of our region tomorrow.

Kasch: Nice answer! As VD now, how important do you see the next four months in terms of building TNP and maintaining our level of efficiency and success?

Tomb: It is of utmost importance that we continue building up TNP and its various institutions over the next 4 months. While the summer slumber (the time period around summertime in which activity all around NS generally plummets) is still some time away, we need to prepare for it. We can do that by actively recruiting right now, by retaining the new members we recruit through the activities, events, and opportunities we offer, and by working with a purpose in mind. As I said before, I am optimistic about the region's future in the months to come, but the region can only move forward and improve if everyone's contributing. As long as we can keep that up, I think we're in a good position moving forward.

Kasch: All sounds good! Now, for more of a different question, if you could change one thing about TNP, what would it be and why?

Tomb: There is not anything major that I really want changed right now. Perhaps, I would recommend that Ministers be more involved on the RMB. We also need to keep focusing on continuing our integration and retention programs in the weeks and months to come. A pause or hiatus in recruitment or mentoring will have a direct effect on our region's activity levels. But aside from that, as they say, if it is not broken, there is no reason to fix it.

Kasch: Okay, time for a fun question, who do you think will win the Spamwar this year?

Tomb: me I have my bets on either you or FTH.

Kasch: Me! I don't spam at all! Jokes aside, out of all the things to have happened so far this term, what has been your favourite?

Tomb: Well, aside from my election , I am very happy that the Ministry of Communications started a live broadcasting program called the Northern Broadcasting Service (NBS). I think this is an excellent program, it has a lot of potential, and I am really looking forward to it expanding in the weeks to come.

Kasch: Are you only saying that because I started the program?

Tomb: You know, I am biased towards you, but in all honestly, I really think it's a great program. It gives the Ministry of Communications a new purpose, and it opens up a whole new way of communication for our region.

Kasch: Now for the final question of the interview, if you could interview one member from our community, past or present, who would that be and why?

Tomb: It would have to be IndieGirl. IndieGirl most recently rejoined TNP during the two months I was on break from NS, and so I never got to meet her. I'm a huge fan of her, especially her spamming, and so she would be my choice.

Kasch: I've had the honor of interviewing IndieGirl when I was a few months into my time here, it was one of the best moments in my NS Career, and I still have the whole thing saved on my computer. I think that wraps everything up, it was great having you on The Spotlight for this interview, and I wish you the best of luck over next term!

Tomb: Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me today, Kasch. Being the first interviewee of The Spotlight is an honor. Thank you again for having me.

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North Pacific Army Bulletin for January
The North Pacific Army is a collection of nations primarily responsible for maintaining the peace of The North Pacific and defending its allies. The NPA is led by Gladio, the current Minister of Defense.

Over January, the NPA has had a hugely successful period of deployments. At the start of the month, the NPA was deployed to The East Pacific, one of our closest allies. We peacefully assisted their government in resolving an internal issue that faced them at the time. This was a hugely successful operation, it not only helped them resolve the issue, but was able to break the record for the highest number of troops on an operation, with 30 nations taking part. This broke the previous record of 28 troops in the Pacifican Union operation.

Then, after a fairly quiet Christmas period, the NPA was deployed to our ally Taijitu after their Founder ceased to exist. Action was necessary to secure the region until they could solve the problem. Once again, a successful operation, with us holding the region until the founder returned. The NPA was able to deploy 22 troops for this operation.

Shortly after the deployment in Taijitu, the NPA took part in a training operation in Warzone Australia. This operation was a success, with 7 troops taking part. This was a very good number of people for a training exercise during one of the updates.

The success of the operations during the last month show how the current Minister of Defense, Gladio, has been able to develop an effective and active army that, in a matter of hours, can be deployed in good number.

A few days ago, the NPA completed another operation in a region named 'Nations without a Region'. This operation was successful, with 23 troops deployed.

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10/10. Excellent job all!

Writer points and rewards coming soon.

100%, Tomb. Dayum. That's gonna look great on your NS resumé.

There's a typo where Tomb says he's a heat beat away from the Delegacy. Other than that, really good.

Interesting and nicely written.